Belle in the Library with Logic
by Trisa Slyne
Summary: Belle murders the Beast's preconceptions that he has been enchanted by a kind enchantress with good intentions. (Will be revised eventually.)


**Author's Note: I don't own the rights to Disney's rendition of Beauty and the Beast.**

**Belle in the Library with Logic**

The grand library in the Beast's castle contained more books than Belle had ever seen before. The books were free of dust or mold and she even noticed a room for rebinding the covers connected off to the side. This library had been the Beast's surprise gift to her. Along with it came the freedom to visit it when she pleased. She was still touched by the kindness behind that. And relieved. She had been so bored in her room without anything to read or do. Now she could come here and read and read and read.

When she had first entered, she had been bombarded by a number of servants willing to find her anything she needed, carry her books around, put back any books she finished with, read out loud to her; she would have been surprised if she had not encountered similar behavior in the kitchen on her first night there.

They had been about to burst into song before she assured them that it was quite alright. She promised she would not tell Lumière and that she would let them know if she needed anything. They all exhaled relieved breaths and went back to their own hobbies: reading, writing, book clubs. It was highly entertaining to watch a feather pen writing a novel, dancing across the page upright without anyone holding it.

Belle approached a bookshelf and took a few moments to appreciate the beauty of the gold-embossed covers. She almost felt sacrilegious touching them, but books were meant to be read, after all. She lifted a few carefully from the shelf to examine their titles and scan through the first few pages. A number of them were in French, of course, but there were also titles in Latin, Greek, Spanish, and a few she did not recognize. She wondered vaguely if the Beast had tutors. Surely he did. Perhaps they could teach her a new language. Being the daughter of a mediocre merchant had not given her many opportunities to learn as much as she would have liked.

She returned the elegant tomes to their shelves and continued looking around until she came across shelves of less delicate, leather-bound books. From here she gathered a few that had piqued her interest. She settled herself, with a contented sigh, in a chaise by a window so she could read by the sunlight. Clearly, someone had been a book-lover, for the chairs and chaises in this room were of even better quality than those in the dining room. She stroked the material idly, enjoying the softness of it beneath her fingers, before opening the book she had chosen to read first.

A little while later, the door to the library opened. Belle thought it was just Mrs. Potts coming in to offer her a between-meals snack. However, when she looked at the door, she was surprised to see the Beast standing there, clearly nervous, rubbing one arm with the other absentmindedly. She lay her book down, open to her page, and made a note to herself of what paragraph she was on before giving Beast a warm smile.

"I saw you reading from outside," he said nervously. "I wanted to come see that you were… enjoying yourself…"

"Would you care to join me?" she asked.

His eyes widened slightly, as if she had asked him to submit himself to some form of torture. "I would love to," he said, slowly, clearly wishing she had asked him to fight more wolves than anything to do with reading. She noted his hesitancy with some amusement.

"Do you enjoy reading?" she asked, allowing herself some small mischief as the servants brought over a large chair for him to sit in.

He opened his mouth and started to nod, but stopped himself. "Not really," he admitted. She wanted to ask if he remembered how but could not figure out how to formulate such a question in a way that would not be presumptuous or cruel. Thankfully, he saved her from having to ask. He settled on the nearby sofa and spoke again: "I haven't had much practice..."

Belle knew just where to go from there. "Would you like to practice now?"

Again, she noticed his panicked expression. "Perhaps tomorrow... when I'm not as tired," he said, cautious once more.

Belle smiled and nodded in understanding. "Well, would you like me to read to you?"

"That would be... nice," he said as Mrs. Potts rolled in with the tea tray and offered them both snacks and tea.

Belle grabbed the top book from the stack she had set on the nearby side-table, thinking it was _Romeo and Juliet_. She looked at the title and grinned at how much more appropriate this book was; _The Sleeping Beauty_, a supposed fairy tale. Supposed because she could no longer assume that magic, enchantresses, even witches, were just stories anymore. The castle was affected by magic... which begged the question: Why? She looked at Beast again, as if for the first time.

"This story, it's about a princess with a curse placed upon her," Belle began, this time cautious herself. She caught a flash of recognition in the Beast's eyes. "This castle... it's clearly enchanted," she paused, unsure if she had the right to ask him about his past. But she could not resist. When else would she have this opportunity? "What happened to you? And why do I feel like I should know you?" As she said it she realized it to be true. This large castle clearly belonged to royalty, so why did she not know anything about it even though she lived in a village right down the road from it? "Who are you?"

Beast turned to her, uncertainty on his face. He looked at Mrs. Potts for support. "Go on, dear, tell her who you are," Mrs. Potts said.

Belle was almost certain he would refuse to tell her, but he surprised her once more. "I… I am Prince Adam," he said, as if that were all the introduction he needed.

"Prince Adam," Belle said slowly, testing the name for herself. She felt her view of him changing with this knowledge. "Would you prefer I call you that?"

"No," the Beast growled. He rose from the chair as if sitting were suddenly uncomfortable for him.

"What happened to you," Belle asked. His face darkened and he began to pace around their sitting area. All the servants, except Mrs. Potts, tensed up again. After a few moments of watching Beast pace, Mrs. Potts gave him a questioning look. He gave a jerky nod toward Mrs. Potts and so Mrs. Potts told Belle the story: of how his entire family had recently died on a trip to another country, leaving him in charge of the castle, of how he had refused to allow a beggar woman into the castle, of how that woman had really been a beautiful enchantress, of how that woman claimed he had rejected her because of her appearance and so decided to teach him a lesson about appearances by enchanting his entire castle.

By the time she finished, Beast, no Prince Adam, was by the window, staring off into the dark forest. Belle stared at his back, her heart full of horror, pity, and understanding.

"So, you were a child and you refused to let a stranger into your home and she cursed you for it?" Belle asked, hoping she had somehow misunderstood.

Beast nodded in agreement, but then turned around to look at her, confusion on his face. "No. No. I should have let her come in," he said. "It was the right thing to do." Of course he thought that. If it was not true, then why else would she have cursed him? "I was mourning my parents' deaths, but that was no reason to turn her away."

Belle pursed her lips and shook her head, sadly. It was clear to her that he had been victim to a foul sorceress rather than punished by some sort of good enchantress trying to make him into a better person. She wondered if perhaps the enchantress had been slighted by his parents before they had mysteriously died. She was not from around here, but she felt a vague recollection from her youth of being told of their deaths. The whole kingdom had been in mourning. How big was this kingdom that she had known even from where she lived before? She had been young and had not paid much attention to the details of politics; there had been far too many adventures to have instead.

It seemed now to her that this enchantress may have killed his parents, may even have meant to kill him with them, had for some reason decided to curse him to live a miserable existence instead. The reasons why no longer even mattered, especially since the smallest slight, such as being prettier than a witch, or not inviting a witch to a party, were enough to enrage a witch to do terrible things; assuming that fairy tales were more often true than not.

"Who punishes a child like that?" she asked gently, hoping to lead him to see it as she did.

Uncertainty flickered across the Beast's face, but stubbornness won out. "I wasn't a child," he said, a bit of childlike petulance in his voice. "I was the crown prince and old enough to be considered a man."

"Hardly," Belle said and he glared at her. "I don't think she was an enchantress. She sounds like a sorceress to me."

"Well she wasn't," the beast shouted. "She was an enchantress who was trying to help me become a better ruler."

Belle stood up to face him. She fought the impulse to logically and soundly refute everything he believed to be true. The Socratic Method would have to suffice, instead. "How?" she prodded, raising her voice to meet his.

"By making me look past appearances!" he roared.

"Then where are all the ugly but kind girls here to teach you that lesson?" she shouted back.

"What?" he asked, so taken aback he forgot to be angry. It seemed no one had ever questioned the curse, or at least not after he got into a rage over it.

"If you are supposed to be learning to appreciate people for what's inside them, then why did she not magically summon a host of ugly women here for you to get to know and possibly fall in love with?"

"That would be rude to try to fall in love with numerous women at once," he said, feeling as if he had won this argument.

Bell huffed. "Fine, then. Why could she not have magically sent you women one at a time until you found one you could love and who loved you? Why did she not do _something _to help you learn that lesson?"

Beast did not have an answer to that and began pacing again instead of answering her. She gave him time to think it over. Eventually, he paused and answered her. "Because… because that would be cheating. I had to find a woman on my own."

Belle scoffed. "Cheating? That extra curse, the one that made everyone forget about you, it seems a bit unfair, doesn't it? How are you supposed to find true love when no one knows you are here?" If her father had not gotten lost in the woods, they never would have met. No one ever travelled out this way.

"I… I don't know," he finally admitted, not entirely comfortable at having lost another argument to her. She had won that argument after he had saved her from the woods and now she had won this one as well.

"I could read more about curses…" Belle offered. "Maybe I could find another way to break yours than falling in love."

Beast's expression softened. "You… you would do that… for me?" he asked, surprised.

"Of course," she said, mentally thinking of how it would benefit herself as well. The more Belle thought about it, the more the plan formed steadily in her mind. She would help the Beast find love, somehow, or do whatever else was needed to break his curse. Maybe, just maybe, if she helped him get his freedom, he would give her hers.

As she looked at Beast, she got the uncomfortable feeling that he still believed love would break his curse. Maybe it really was the only way, but she hoped she could find another way. Then again, if love was what was needed, the least she could do was help him become more presentable, educated, and mannerly. It would be a lot of work, but she figured she could get him up to standards for a prince, with the help of his tutors. He had not mentioned a deadline for fulfilling the curse so she would need to prod him some more for that information, eventually.

But first, they could start with reading. "Would you still like me to read to you?" she asked. He thought a moment then nodded, settling himself back into the chair. Belle smiled and opened the book and began to read.


End file.
